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Clarks shoes, one of Britain’s biggest private companies, has turned to a former worldwide president of Burberry as it continues to popularise a brand once associated with schoolchildren and pensioners.

Thomas O’Neill, 61, who was a non-executive director at Clarks, will become chairman, replacing Peter Davies, who has overseen the shoemaker’s transformation into a chic and fashionable business.

“This is a wonderful company, with a strong heritage and exciting growth prospects globally,” Mr O’Neill said of a company he described as “a unique and much-loved brand”.

Melissa Potter, the chief executive of Clarks, said that Mr O’Neill was a “natural choice”